Conservation of Globes

by Mag. Dr. hab. Patricia Engel and Michael Højlund Rasmussen

next course: 16 September to 17 November 2019
fee: 198,- € (Students get a reduction of 20%.)

Historic globes exist all over Europe, in public collections and libraries, but also as private property. While older celestial globes were made of metals, since Behaim´s Erdapfel from 1492 globes have been made of paper, papier-mâché, wood and parchment.

In contrast to this omnipresence of globes, there is a sort of vacuum in conservation expertise concerning globe conservation. Today there are only a few conservators working in different European countries, who, due to their individual careers, are able to deal with the conservation of globes. Isolated articles in various journals have so far been the only competent publications in the field of globe conservation.

Structure of the online course:
The first chapter of the course gives a description of the cultural and historical background of the topic and describes the history of the globes from 3000 BC to the 20th century.

This is followed by helpful suggestions for the documentation of a globes material and an overview of damages. The latter provides pictures of typical damages on the globes along with case-by-case explanations. It will enable conservators to identify damages – even rare ones - and help the laymen to deal with their problems.

The main chapters deal with specific suggestions for conservators concerning concrete practical conservation requests including the preparation of some materials and the techniques of surface cleaning on globes.

The last chapter explains the practical storage problems, the climatic conditions and the correct packing and transportation of globes.

The authors:
Based on her extensive experiences in globe conservation Mag. Dr. hab. Patricia Engel (scientific assistant at the Donau-Universität Krems, European Research Centres for Book and Paper Conservation-Restoration) developed an e-learning course with the most up-to-date technical possibilities. Michael Højlund Rasmussen (Conservation Centre Vejle, Denmark) cooperated in this project.